Stone Tabletop Altar

This tabletop altar with scrolled edges, scalloped apron and turned legs from China's Shanxi province is a rare find. We conservatively estimate it to be late Ming Dynasty (c. 1600), but it is very likely even older. This altar was carved by hand from a single block of limestone and retains a black and red polychrome finish that may have been original to the piece or could have been added years later. The wonderful texture of the stone is a result of oxidation that would have taken place over hundreds of years. Stone furniture came into its own in China during the Ming Dynasty and was generally considered to be vital architecture of a traditional Chinese garden.